Okay, we're going to be in Mark
chapter 9. Mark chapter 9, verses 30 through 37. Now in this scripture,
the Lord speaks of his substitutionary death and resurrection. And it
reveals the deception of pride in us and how we are to receive
our brethren. How we are to receive our brethren. Our title is, Forgiving as Forgiving. Forgiving as forgiven. And we'll
have three divisions. And let's first look at the substitutionary
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this passage here, it opens
with several sobering verses, and our Lord reveals the great
gospel truth to his disciples of his substitutionary atonement
for his people. Let's read it. In Mark 9, verses
30 through 32. They departed thence, and passed
through Galilee, and he would not that any man should know
it. For he taught his disciples,
and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands
of men, and they shall kill him, and after that he is killed he
shall rise the third day. But they understood not that
saying, and were afraid to ask him. And so here we see that
Christ is speaking to his disciples alone, and he reveals to them
intimate details about his death and resurrection. And what we
see in this, brethren, is that salvation is a revelation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's revealed to the people of
God. The Holy Spirit reveals Christ
to his people." So consider that you are here and you're hearing
the gospel and learning the gospel and being fed and strengthened
in the gospel like never before when you were just in religion
and doing the things religion and under the Spirit's teaching
now you are taught as you're taught this gospel you're taught
to confess your sins to confess that that it's not your worst
but that The Spirits revealed Christ to us, that Christ is
our salvation, and that He settles us there in the Lord Jesus Christ,
so that it's by His power that we do believe, and that's our
confession. We believe not by our strength
and not by our power, but by the power of the Spirit working
in us to reveal Christ. And others we know in religion,
in mass religion, which is all around us and all the different
so-called churches on the different corners and throughout the highways,
all about us and throughout this nation and throughout the world,
there's many that speak of the decision they've made to follow
Jesus. They look at what they've done
to give their heart or their life to Christ and how that they've
accepted him and made him Lord and Savior of their life. And
they don't hear what they're saying is that they're trusting
in their own works and in their power to make a choice and a
decision. And to them, salvation is not
a revelation, but rather a work that they must do in the flesh. They call it faith, but it's
just a work that their flesh has done. And so we see, though,
that the Scriptures, they don't teach that. The Scriptures teach
that our salvation is a revelation, in the heart by the Spirit of
God, revealing to us the Lord Jesus Christ, revealing what
Christ has done. Turn over to Matthew 11 and go
to verse 25. To those who are given life They hear Christ, and they believe. The Spirit draws out that faith
from us, because He gives us that faith to lay hold of Christ
to begin with. And in Matthew 11, 25, we read,
At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
so, father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things
are delivered unto me of my father, and no man knoweth the son but
the father. Neither knoweth any man the father
save the son, and he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. So we're seeing there that salvation
is a revelation in which sinners are irresistibly drawn by God
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is because they've been
born again. They've been made alive by the
Spirit to know what they are and to see that Christ is all,
that He is the righteous one that God has provided. Paul called
it the power of God unto us which are saved. It's the power of
God. That's in 1 Corinthians 1.18.
So that it's a distinguishing salvation. The Lord distinguishes
His people from those that are not His people. It's a distinguishing
salvation in which sinners are chosen of God and given faith
to follow the Lamb whithersoever. He goes. And God hides this salvation,
right? He hides the salvation from those
whom He chooses to hide it from. And that's exactly what we see
in our text, right? We see that Christ, when He passed
through, would not that any man should know it. just like the
Father. He didn't want some people to
know that He was there. And God reveals this salvation
to those whom He chooses to reveal it, just like Christ did in our
text when He taught His disciples and said unto them, He said unto
them, that's why I say we see his sovereign choice in electing
sinners and drawing them to himself so that we understand that his
atonement, his substitution was made for a particular people. In Romans 9, 15, and 16, he saith
to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy. So it's not our free will that
saves. Our free will is actually a will
in bondage to sin, death, and darkness, so that we cannot choose
God. We don't see God until he's revealed
to us in spirit and in power. that overtakes us and causes
us, draws us out to the Lord Jesus Christ. So Christ, after
he thanked God the Father for his sovereign choice in choosing
and drawing those whom he would to the Son, our Lord then stood
up there in Matthew 11, verse 28, And he spoke omnipotently then,
just as he does even in our day. And he called out his lost sheep
by saying, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. And that's what we see in that.
What we understand now in the gospel is that's a word that
goes out to sinners. to sinners who have no righteousness
in themselves, who are burdened by their work in trying to keep
the law, because they see they're not doing it, no matter how hard
they try, they can't please God, and they find no satisfaction
in themselves, and so they're burdened. And they're heavy laden,
and they're confessing, Lord, I'm a sinner. Have mercy upon
me. And that's who Christ's words
go out to, and he draws them when they say, wait a minute.
He's all my rest. He's all my salvation. He's everything
that I need. God has provided him for me,
the sinner. were drawn out unto that new
birth, and begged the Lord for his mercy. He said, Take my yoke
upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light. Because it is light in Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ bore the burden. He bore the punishment.
He paid the price that we might go free. He laid down his life
that we might have life. him evermore." So the substitution
means, or at least what the scriptures teach it means, is that Christ
shed his blood for his lost sheep. He shed his blood for a particular
people, a peculiar people that he's made his own. He gave his
life for their life so that they shall know him and They shall
know the one who laid down his life for them and what he did
for them, because it pleases the Father, because in that he
glorifies his Son. We are made to know what Christ
has really done for us. We read in 2 Corinthians 4, 6,
for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. has
shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So that same
divine creative power is the same divine power that gives
life to dead sinners, that we might know the truth of God and
it's all revealed in the person and work of Jesus Christ. That
means that there's none that will perish for whom Christ died.
None shall perish or go to hell for whom Christ died. He is a
successful Savior, a successful Savior. And that's why in Matthew
121, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from their sins. And so there's nothing accidental.
about Christ's death. It's not an accident. Nothing
about it is an accident. It's all according to purpose. It's all according to the purpose
of God. Our Savior said in Matthew 20
verse 28, Even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. So the many spoken of, that's
a particular people that he foresaw. He knew them. He loved them. He came and died for that particular
people whom the Father gave to him. We see in Isaiah 53, we
see this, that he shall see of the travail of his soul and shall
be satisfied. He looked down, he saw exactly
for whom he was laying his life down for. And by his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
sins." He bears their sins. He knows exactly whose sins he's
bearing and for whom he is laying down his life for. And in laying
down his life, they go free and they have life. in him." So we
see that's a particular people that he's done this for. The
scriptures reveal Christ as the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. And in Ephesians 1-4, it reveals
his knowledge of a peculiar people, a particular people. It says
in Ephesians 1-4 that it's according as he had chosen us in him, in
Christ, before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love." He did this work. He knows exactly what he's doing
so that all his people that are chosen in Christ is exactly like
what we see when the Lord chose Jacob over Esau. And when he
blessed Jacob over Esau and passed by Esau in favor of showing that
distinguishing love to Jacob, the younger one. In Romans 9,
11 through 13, it says, for the children being not yet born,
neither having done any good nor evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand not of works, but of him
that calleth. It was said unto her that the
elder shall serve the younger, for Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. showed his distinguishing love
and choosing in electing Jacob and choosing Jacob over Esau
and revealed himself to Jacob in power and in truth and in
strength so that Jacob was made the Lord's and there was no preventing
Jacob from coming to the truth so God ordained all his steps
and everything that he did, and sanctified all that work to his
heart, so that he knew and was brought to see that Christ is
his salvation when he slept there with his head on the rock. So
substitution, brethren, is the sum of the gospel. It reveals
to us the sovereign choice of the Lord, that he shall save
whom he will save, and he shall not fail in that salvation. We were as enemies, dead in trespasses
and sins, unable to motivate God or move God by some works
that we did. We were destitute and bankrupt
and had nothing to offer to God to gain favor with Him. And that's something that the
world just does not understand by the wisdom, the spirit of
their own wisdom and the spirit of man They don't understand
that, but when he makes it known that there's nothing that we've
done or can do to earn that salvation, that's a good place to be brought
to, to know that we're bankrupt sinners in need of his grace. Turn over to Romans 5, verse
6. Romans 5, 6. And if you're not used to bringing
a Bible, be sure to bring one from home. If you have a Bible,
bring it regularly. And if you don't have one, get
one in the back so you can follow along, so that you can see what
I'm saying, so that you can see whether the things I'm saying
are so and are right. Romans 5.6 For when we were yet
without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Withered by the power of the
Spirit blown upon them, they are brought to see that they
have nothing, that they are the bankrupt sinner, so that they
are brought to be counted among those who have no confidence
in the flesh, like we saw this morning. That's a rare people,
that's a peculiar people that have no confidence in the flesh. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. Note now as we go on to verse
eight and beyond the prepositions that Paul uses, the us and the
we, us and we. Look at verse eight. But God
commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if
when we were enemies, We were reconciled to God by the death
of his son. Much more being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also,
joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received
the atonement. And the we and the us is testified
by our obedience to Christ. And what I mean by that is the
strength and the power of God to come upon us, to give us faith,
give us that spiritual faith and that understanding and that
knowledge to look to Christ, to lay hold of Him by faith.
That's obedience to Christ. That's being obedient to the
work that Christ did, trusting not in my own works, But in all
the work that He did for His people and laying down His life
for them and in justifying them and sanctifying them, we're resting
right there in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's not a work of
the flesh. That's a work of the Spirit of
God that gives those spiritual graces, those spiritual gifts
to His people to lay hold of Christ. They'd rather to be laid
hold of by Him. and to rest there in Him and
to know Him. So Christ declared His successful
redemption of His people when He spoke of the resurrection.
He spoke of it as something already done. He said, the Son of Man
is given into the hands of men. I'm already, this is done. And
he spoke of his resurrection, and that declares to us the success
that he has wrought for his people. Look at Mark 9.31, For he taught
his disciples and said unto them, The Son of Man is delivered into
the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And after that he is
killed, he shall rise the third day. So Christ's resurrection,
it declares to us that God is satisfied, God is pleased. It declares to us that God has
received us and accepted us into the family of the Beloved. Even
now we are His and have confidence because He raised Christ up from
the dead. And He's given us faith to believe
Him and to lay hold upon Him. Him whom we haven't even seen
and yet we believe. We believe the word of the Gospel.
And to know that He's been raised from the dead, we have every
confidence. We are assured. We believe, brethren, that we
are His and that He is returning again to raise up these bodies
anew and to give us a body like unto His body, a glorified body
whereby we shall worship and stand before the Ancient of Days
all the days of our life, glorying and rejoicing and being happy
and joyful in Him. Don't look at it with this flesh
and the wisdom of the flesh, because the flesh rejects it
and wars against it, but the Spirit rejoices knowing that
we have life forevermore in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I like
what Pastor Fortner said. He said, when you think of Christ's
substitutionary death, he said, think of these four words. First, sovereignty. We see the
sovereignty of God in choosing whom he will. Think of substitution. That is that Christ laid down
his life for your life. Think of satisfaction. That is Christ made satisfaction
unto God on your behalf. You who believe him. He made
satisfaction. You're accepted in him. and think
of success. Christ is a successful Savior.
He did not fail. So those are four good words
when you're thinking of Christ's substitutionary debt. Sovereignty,
substitution, satisfaction, success. He did it all. All right now,
let's look at our next point here. deafening pride, deafening
pride. We see that apparently the words
that Christ spoke of his death and resurrection didn't have
a huge effect on the disciples. They quickly forgot what he was
saying. The first time the Lord spoke
of his death and resurrection, you know, in Mark 8, 32, Peter
took them aside and began to rebuke them. And then the second
time that the Lord spoke of his death, when they were coming
down off the Mount of Transfiguration, they kept that saying with themselves,
questioning one with another what the rising from the dead
should mean. But this third time, it says
in Mark 9.32, they understood not that saying and were afraid
to ask Him. So what did they do? They went
on talking about the things which they knew and which they were
very comfortable with. Look at verses 33 and 34. And
he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked them,
What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?
But they held their peace, for by the way they had disputed
among themselves who should be the greatest. And there we see how pride is
a deafening sin. They didn't hear what Christ
was speaking about. They didn't consider it. They
quickly let it go and forgot what they had heard Christ speak
about because of pride. They were talking about who of
them should be the greatest among them. That's what Christ spoke
of. That's our hope and that's our
joy and that's our rejoicing. If we're not looking to what
Christ has accomplished for us, then what are we looking to?
Is this just religion that we're here doing just to be good religious
Pharisees? You know, they were more interested
in their life on earth than the life to come, and what Christ
was accomplishing for them. And they're dwelling there in
the flesh. Now, like those disciples, we
see that we too are proud. And we too have that self-righteous,
pharisaical spirit in us. And pride is very deceptive. Because the thing about pride
is we always think we deserve better. Right? We think, I deserve
better than that. They shouldn't speak to me that
way, or I shouldn't be treated in that way. So we think that
we deserve better. And Obadiah 1.3 said, the pride
of thine heart hath deceived thee. Pride is very deceitful
because it deceives us. It makes us think of ourselves
more highly than we ought to think of ourselves. And what's
interesting, what's filthy about pride is that, you know, in pride,
when you see another's, we despise it. We despise pride, don't we? When you're in the presence of
someone who's very proud, it's something that we don't really
like or take too kindly to. But isn't it in the same way,
it's the thing that we most cherish and protect in ourselves, in
our own heart. We hate it in others, but don't
you say that to me. Don't you belittle me in front
of people. Don't you talk about me that
way or don't you do that against me. And you see how we protect
pride and are so careful with it in ourselves, but we're so
quick to despise it in another person. And pride is wicked. It's the thing that brought down
Lucifer when he was cast out of heaven like lightning. He
was thrust out and thrown out, and pride was the thing that
incited Adam to rebel. He wanted to be like God, that
he did that which the Lord told him not to do, and that's why
he was driven from the garden. And we see how pride is what
keeps sinners from coming to Christ. They know better. They're going
to do their works. Their works are sufficient. Don't
tell me that I need a Savior. Don't give me that. And so pride
keeps them from coming to Christ. And pride keeps us from coming
to the Lord and being with his people. It keeps us from hearing
the gospel. That's just pride. And we're
focused on ourselves and protecting that pride in ourselves. And when I say even, it keeps
us from hearing the gospel because you can even be sitting here.
and so wrapped up in your mind about an offense that you're
not even hearing the gospel, and you're not hearing the blessings
that are there in that gospel. And, you know, pride, it keeps
us from reconciling with one another. Pride keeps us from
forgiving one another. Pride keeps us from seeking forgiveness
from another. And so pride divides brethren. It divides very brethren, and
that's That's sad, you know, because it ought not to be. Proverbs 13, 10 says, only by
pride cometh contention. but with the well-advised is
wisdom. And Proverbs 28, 25 says that
he that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife. So it ruins the soul. Pride ruins the soul because
it prevents that reconciliation to God through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it prevents us, keeps us, it divides brethren. Pride
goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall. It robs us of peace in ourselves
because we're so worked up about it. It robs us of peace with
one another. It destroys brotherly love and
pride builds fences. It puts up walls to keep people
out that we don't want to let in. It builds up fences. And
so pride ends up being malicious, it's uncaring, it's self-centered,
it's critical of others, it's hypocritical, and it just creates
a volatile situation. It's unforgiving, unbending,
unyielding. It's just, it's not good. Pride
is, it's evil and it's deceitful and it's disruptive. You know,
it's disruptive among brethren because it just, it eats at us
and it eats at those that are affected by it as well. And it's
not becoming of sons and daughters. So we don't want to be proud. And the Lord shows us that when
they were talking about who would be the greatest, it was just
pride. We saw that, right? Wasn't there
a time where John and James, they had their mother come up
to Christ and ask him if her sons, one could sit on the left
and the other one could sit on the right? That was pride that
had them do that. They wanted the preeminent spot.
And what happened? All the other brethren were offended. And they were angry with John
and James for doing that. Because it was pride. Pride.
And their pride was hurt, right? It was trampled on. Because how
dare you assume that you're the preeminent one and that you should
get your way. What about me? And so pride is like that. Okay, but let's go on to the
third point and see Christ, he shows the brethren his standard
of greatness. He shows to us how we are to
receive one another. Now we know what the world says.
The world says, you who rule over others, you're great. You
who win arguments and you get your way, you're great. You're
something. and you're something to behold.
But Christ says that serving others, that's real greatness.
He says, look at verse, Mark 9, 35. He sat down and called
the 12 and said unto them, if any man desire to be first, the
same shall be last of all and servant of all. And we know how
few that impacts, how few are willing to serve and lay down
their life for the church and give of their time and their
substance, their thoughts and their prayers, and lay down their
pride, that there would be the blessing of the Lord that would
fall upon his people and that there would be that peace as
we saw in Philippians where the gospel, we're just focused on
the gospel going forth, not letting these works get in. Paul said
in 2 Corinthians 2.11, speaking of Satan, he said, we're not
unaware of his devices. We know what he does. He works
that division among us. And so we are to be careful and
try to work things out so that it doesn't become a greater problem
than it should be. We want it to end and not get
in the way of the gospel going forth. And so, turn over to James
1. James 1, he speaks to this. James 1 verse 22 through 26,
we'll look at. James 1, 22. He says, but be
ye doers of the word. and not hearers only, deceiving
your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the
word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural
face in a glass." And right when men and women come and hear the
gospel, the natural man is laid, when you hear the gospel, the
natural man is laid down in the dust, right? The face of man
goes down in the dust, And he's put down where he is. We're sinners. There's nothing to boast in of
ourselves. And so he sees, that's like,
when we hear the gospel, that's like a person who goes through
the mirror and sees his natural face. So we're seeing in the
gospel what we are naturally. We see the evil and the sin that
rages in this flesh and in this heart. And he says, verse 23,
oh sorry, not in verse 23, Verse 24, for he beholdeth himself,
and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man
he was. So that when we come in, if we're
just dead-letter religionists, we come in, we hear the gospel,
the flesh is put down, you see what the natural man is and how
hypocritical he is and full of sin, and then to go right back
to your religion and start looking to your own works, and trusting
in your works, and not trusting in Christ, not being a forgetful
hearer, forgetting what you've just heard, and what you've seen,
how the natural man is nothing, and you begin to think again
of yourselves more highly than you ought to think, and you begin
to despise others who don't measure up to your righteousness. Verse
25, But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, that
is, he that's looking to Christ, and His work, and knows I'm forgiven
by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's done this work in me and
he's given me all the spiritual blessings that I had and all
that I need for life. and godliness. And he says, and
continueth therein, right, we continue being thankful that
Christ has forgiven us and remembering what Christ has done for me,
a sinner, an undeserving sinner, he being not a forgetful hearer
but a doer of the work. He's a doer of the work because
he's believing Christ, he's trusting him and in that he's confident
in the Lord, and he serves his brethren in a thankful heart. This man shall be blessed in
his deed. And then he addresses the proud
tongue, verse 26. If any man among you seem to
be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his
own heart, this man's religion is vain. So we ought not to always
be seeking to justify ourselves and condemning everyone else
who isn't seeing things the way we do. We're not to condemn our
brethren. But let's look at this example
that the Lord gives in 9, 36 and 37. It says in Mark 9.36 that he
took a child and set him in the midst of them. And when he had
taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive
one of such children in my name receiveth me, and whosoever shall
receive me receiveth not me, but him that sent me. Now, a
lot of commentators or people, what they do there when they
see that, they say, well, we're to be like children, because
children are easily taught. They're not easily offended,
but they forgive pretty quickly, and they're very trusting. And
that's all true. We should be like children. And he does speak
like that, that we should trust him, believing like children
believe. But notice what he says here
in this particular passage. In verse 37, he says, Whosoever
shall receive one of such children in my name receiveth me. And what What we see there in
that is he's saying, we're like children. And just like children,
they offend in many ways, don't they? They do a lot of things.
They make a lot of mistakes. They say a lot of things that
they shouldn't say. And they do a lot of things that
they shouldn't do. And they behave in ways that
are very foolish. But think of how you are towards
children. You forgive those children very
quickly, don't you? Because you know they're foolish.
You know they're just a child. You know that they're going to
say things that they ought not to say. And with adults, when
adults do those things, we get very offended very easily because
you think, well, adults should know better, and they shouldn't
do that to me. They shouldn't say that. They
shouldn't do that. It shouldn't be this way. They're adults.
They know better. And the Lord's saying, Look at
your brethren like children and be forgiving to them in the way
that you forgive children. because you know they're foolish,
you know they're going to make mistakes, you know that they're
going to speak wrongfully and foolishly and not do what they
should do. I remember one time when our
kids were young, very young, Alexis may have been four, and
we had a couple over from England, an older couple, and we're just
talking and all of a sudden she says, to the woman, why are your
teeth green? And I remember both Michelle
and I at the same time said, Alexis, And we were so embarrassed
for her and embarrassed for the woman. And the woman just said,
oh, it's okay. You know, honey, when we were
in the UK and when I was young growing up, we didn't invest
a lot in dental hygiene. We just didn't have that, but
it's okay. And that's what the Lord is saying.
Be forgiving to your brethren, because we are fools and we do
say foolish things and we do foolish things. And we forgive
our kids for that. Be forgiving to your brethren
in that same way. I'll close with this quote from
Ephesians 4.32, verse 5, verse 2. He said, and be ye kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear Children as dear children remember that you are
dear children and your brethren are dear children and we'd say
and do foolish things but forgive them receive them and walk in
love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling Savior
So that's why I titled it, Forgiving as Forgiven. So forgive your
brethren and receive them as children. The way you receive
your children and love them and are quick to forgive them, that's
how we're to receive our brethren in that same way. I pray the
Lord will bless that to our hearts. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
Father, we thank you for your word that teaches us so much,
Lord, and that goes deeper than the skin. And Lord, you know
that in our flesh we are fools, we say foolish things, we think
foolish thoughts, we do foolish acts, Lord, and yet you forgive
us in Christ, and you're so merciful to us, and you receive us, not
in our works, not because we're good and worthy of forgiveness,
but you receive us in Christ because He is worthy, and that
in receiving us, you receive, you're receiving your own son.
Lord, help us to see that and remember that with forgiveness
toward our brethren. Lord, that we would be patient
and kind and merciful and receive them as children because in doing
that, Lord, we receive Christ and we're not being hypocrites
in that way because who are we? We all have sin and foolishness.
Lord, we pray that you would bless this congregation with
peace fellowship and joy and rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's in his name we pray. Amen.